A Merrrier We*

It can be dangerous to go to reunions.  Okay, maybe not dangerous; perhaps boring is a better word?  Especially if you are the accompanying spouse or partner.  I thought about this as we drove to meet friends I went to school with in East  L.A.  Steve F. referred to this as a Junior High reunion.  Yesterday we discovered that some of us have known each other since elementary school.  Really?  50 years?  Yes, with 50 years of stories - some shared experience, some not. 

Photo - Naomi Furogawa

Those stories made yesterday so much fun.  That, and it seems that we all like to laugh.  And then laugh some more; with each other and gently at each other.  We tend to focus on happier moments.  Complex and dark ones be damned; they're not invited to this dinner table.  It was good to be with friends at the table.

Steve, his wife Naomi and their son David, like to talk about the places they've been and the things they've seen.  They also like to bring folks together. It's thanks to them that we have begun to meet every once in a while.

Larry, as well as his sibs, Ricky and Loretta, have great stories to tell about their family. Ricky is a true raconteur.  He loved the spotlight granted the storyteller.  He had us laughing for nearly an hour after we left the restaurant.  

We shared the requisite "we were there and we remember the folks names - Retzell, Hunter, Sutton, Woessner, Segall, and of course, D.W. Young" stories.  The generally funny, "Turquoise Falcon with the stick shift that broke in second gear on the way to the Music Center".  "Reading 16 Magazine instead of sheet music during orchestra".  "Practicing paratrooper rolls after jumping off the garage roof".  "The flight not taken before the flight to Hawaii".  Stories, stories, stories.

An evening filled with shameless joy while we remembered our youth and our time together.  

Don't know the next time we'll get together, but I'm sure it'll be a dinner filled with a lot of laughter.

Photo - David Furagawa

* Clearly chunked from "I love to Laugh" by Sherman and Sherman